Planning an American 'roadtrip' for solo under 25

Hi,

I am 24 years old, female, and planning a solo trip to America sometime between Sept-Nov this year for anything between 4-5 weeks.

I really want to experience the 'cliche' American roadtrip, but as I am 24 I am going to cop the under 25 per day surcharge which will make things quite expensive, not to mention as I am going by myself I will be doing all of the driving! I guess my main question is, if I can't do a road trip by car are there any worthwhile bus/train routes where you can hop on and off and still experience what you would doing it yourself? Are there any bus/train routes that show off the American landscape where you can hop off at small towns and stay at cheap motels etc?

I am going to have many more questions in the future as I start planning the trip properly, but as a start I need to work out the above! Oh and the road trip component will not take up the entire trip as i want to see NYC, LA, SF, Boston without a car.

Thanks everyone 😊 Reply to this

Liv,
Welcome to Travelblog! Like Stephanie and Andras, I've done a long US road trip, and it took many months. Distances in the country are quite large. Driving coast to coast, alone, without any sightseeing takes a minimum of four days (and that's pushing it).
Check your pace carefully, or you will spend all time on the road and not see anything beyond the highway. For example, both New York City and Los Angeles can absorb entire weeks by themselves. Given the time available, my suggestion is to focus on the cities for the most part, and then do a two week driving section at the end. This cuts down on the time you need a rental car and the charges for it. You can also find local rental agencies that may give a lower rate. Personally, I would put the driving time in the Southwest, which has spectacular scenery far from the bus and train routes.
Please remember to blog the trip! Reply to this

Thanks Stephanie and Andras for your informative reply. Your idea of catching train/bus for the long legs and then hiring a car to do day trips is quite a good idea! I like it! Thanks for the links to the bus and train companies too! In your experience what section of the country do you think would be best for a road trip during the Fall?


Roosta - thanks for your reply! I definitely don't plan on driving the entire country, or coast to coast, i know that would be too much! I am only looking at doing a small section of driving and sticking to about 2 weeks on the road, as you suggest, and spending my other time in the cities! So do you think the Southwest is the best part of the country for a roadtrip? I was thinking of doing New England territory (i have heard it is beautiful in the fall)? Do you think it is viable to do a week roadtrip up in New England and then a weeks roadtrip down in the Southwest or similar? Obviously with a flight between the two areas, not driving. From what I have researched both areas would be very different experiences so might be worthwhile doing both? Reply to this

In response to: Msg #171470 sorry I'm new to this and unsure if you would have received my reply above so trying this way just to make sure! Reply to this

Welcome to travel blog Liv,

Your trip sounds fantastic. You've been given lots of great suggestions already.

One of our favorite fall trips is driving through Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. As Ezra pointed out the Aspen trees are glowing gold and it is lovely. Denver is a great city to explore. Yellowstone and Glacier National Park are lovely in September. You would see lots of wildlife. Jackson Hole Wyoming is a cute town, it is touristy but that time of year you won't have too many crowds.

Driving the California Coast is lovely any time of the year.

4 to 5 weeks will go quickly. Planning will be key.
Helping you design your trip will depend on your interest. Music, history, sports or seeing iconic locations.

When most people travel to the U.S. they have limited time and stick to major cities that they've seen in movies and are curious about. That makes sense but to really understand the U.S. you must visit some of our smaller towns and cities. I'm thrilled that it sounds like you have some interest in doing that.

I would first start with making a list of the top 3 things that you really want to do or see while in the U.S. and design the rest of the trip around those 3 things. You'd hate to leave the U.S. and not see those things you've always heard about or had interest in.

I'm going to give you a list of suggestions of smaller towns that are very interesting. You may want to do a google search to find out more about each of these.

You will be visiting in the fall so you may want to attend an American football game. The games are a lot of fun.

Music cities: Memphis, Nashville, Austin, New Orleans
History: Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia
Scenic: Sedona Arizona, Santa Fe New Mexico, Niagara Falls NY (although the Canadian side is much prettier) Canyons of Utah, Monterey California
Other towns to consider: Savannah Georgia, San Antonio Texas
A couple of our favorite cities: Portland Oregon & Seattle Washington

In addition to the people who have commented above ...You may want to read a couple of bloggers who took extended U.S. trips.
Most travel bloggers are happy to answer questions if you send them a private message.


Mumtraveller
Slowfeet
Synnott

Keep us posted on your plans!
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In response to: Msg #172119
Liv,

For fall color, two areas spring to mind, both of which I've done: Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Neither quite matches New England, but both are pretty special and traffic is much lower. You'll need to deal with twisty mountain roads in both states.

Driving in rural areas in the US, especially the Southwest, is pretty easy if you are comfortable on mountain roads. Traffic is low, and most people are very polite. In the big cities, particularly the Northeast and California, on the other hand people drive like homicidal maniacs. You may want to start the driving portion of the trip in a smaller city like Albuquerque NM, Salt Lake City UT, Charleston WV, Harrisburg PA, or Flagstaff AZ to avoid the worst of it. Reserve the vehicle beforehand; agencies in these cities are small.

I can't speak to driving on the wrong side of the road, but many English and Australian bloggers have driven in the US, and may have advice if you send them a private message. Mumtraveller (mentioned in a post above) and elkins come to mind.

Scenic roads tend to have lots of places to pull over and admire the scenery. I do this every few hours on my own trips for breaks. Also keep in mind that you'll be outside the car regularly at attractions and so forth. Bringing music helps fight any boredom (and I've had my share, particularly after dark).

One option to consider is to find an agency that will let you return the car early without a huge cancellation charge. That way, if the trip clearly isn't what you want, you can switch to another option without paying too much.

The trip will be amazing. Looking forward to reading it. Reply to this

Hi Olivia,

We are glad you found some of our information helpful. Thank you for providing a list of things and interest. That will allow us to provide you a little more information specific to what you want to do. Can you afford to stay for 6 weeks? You are going to need more time I think.

1. NYC- Stephanie has lived in NYC recently so hopefully she can provide you suggestions on must do things to see. If you don't care which Broadway play you see-- there are discount tickets available from booths that are located near times square. There are two lines. One line if you know a specific play you want to see and a much, much shorter line if you are willing to go to selected plays. We went in the shorter line and were able to get the tickets we were hoping for. It was great.

I would think 4 days would be a minimum for NYC

2. San Francisco is one of our favorite cities. We are currently living about an hour north. If we are still living here when you visit we'd be happy to buy you dinner. You are young and will stay on the go I'm sure. You can see the highlights in 2 days if you really push it.
Walk or rent a bike and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge
Have lunch at Fisherman's Wharf and dessert at Ghiradelli Square
Have dinner in Chinatown and explore.
Take the Alcatraz Tour
Ride a cable car (long wait to get on but worth it) Check out the Cable Car Museum (free and will only take a short period of time)
Go for a drink at Top of the Mark bar in the Mark Hopkins hotel-- expensive drink but well worth it for the view

You could attend an NFL game in SF. A ticket could cost you $100. The Superbowl will not be played while you are visiting and tickets could cost $1000 or $2000 depending on the seat.

Yes, you may be able to catch a baseball game but that time of year the tickets will be expensive.

If you rent a car to drive from LA to SF you can enjoy the lovely coast and check out some wonderful little towns. Malibu, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Big Sur, Monterey.....and others. You might want to allow 2 days for this drive. ( it can be done in 6 or 7 hours but you won't see anything)

3. For wildlife, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons is the best bet. However, you would incur additional expenses getting there. Driving from Denver to Jackson Hole Wyoming and then flying to Seattle or SF would be our recommendation. You'd have a road trip and see a lot of wildlife in the park. I would allow 5 days for the drive and exploring.

4. Disneyland will be fun. I think they still have fireworks at the end of each day. It is pricey but you've always wanted to do it.

5. Boston is full of American History and a lovely city. You can take the subway to Harvard and explore the campus. You might be able to catch a football game at Harvard or the New England Patriots in Boston. You can walk up and purchase tickets. They are not cheap but if you wait until the game starts you may be able to get them from a scalper a bit cheaper.
I have not been to Salem yet so can't comment.
Cape Cod is lovely. We lived there for 6 months. You may want to go back and read some of those blogs. The coast is lovely. The small towns and lighthouses give you a feel for small American towns. We saw John Belushi's grave on Martha's vineyard. Cape Cod was surprising to us in that it was far more rural than we expected. Plus the driving is slow because of the narrow roads and cute towns.

6. Cowboy ranch country-- Drive Denver to Jackson Hole Wyoming and you'll have plenty of this. Or Drive from Albuquerque to LA. I much prefer the Denver drive but do some research and see what you think.

7. The South- If you want to experience the south I would suggest flying in and out of Savannah Georgia. Two days should be enough. You may want to save this for your next U.S. trip as you already have a lot on your list.

8. In our opinion, October is the BEST month to go to New Orleans. The weather is perfect! True that hurricane season does not officially end until November 1st but many, many people go to N.O. in October. Actually it is one of the busiest months. Great music and food along Bourbon Street

9. Seattle- 2 days You can see most of the downtown area in 2 long days. We recommend renting a car and driving to some small towns. Port Townsend is a cute town. Take the ferry to one of the islands. Drive to Deception Pass. If you add Seattle to your list let us know and we will give you specific things to see and do.


A summary: Plus you will need additional days and money to fly to some of these locations.

NYC = 4 days
SF = 3 days
Drive LA to SF = 2 or 3 days
Drive Denver to Jackson Hole = 5 days
Denver = 2 days
LA = 3 days
LA Beach areas = 2 days (you'll have to have a car)
Disneyland = 1 day
Boston Cape Cod= 5 days
New Orleans = 2 days
Savannah = 2 days
Seattle - 2 days surrounding areas another 2 days

36 days
This will not give you any down time.

Take a look at these blogs. This blogger is riding a motorcycle across part of Canada and the U.S. You'll find some interesting info in these that may give you some ideas.

BoaterBikers



Hopefully Stephanie and Ezra will add additional comments. They have some great blogs that you may want to read. Reply to this

Let's see what else I can add.

Wildlife - deer, elk and bison are, fortunately, the easiest and most prolific of the big N. American wildlife to see. September is rut season for elk, sometimes through mid-October, so in addition to seeing wildlife you'll also hear the echos of their mating calls. As others have mentioned, Yellowstone is the best "guarantee" (if you can make such a thing) of seeing wildlife. If you do head up to the Northwest, you could alternatively take a ferry/drive to Olympic National Park outside Seattle for elk and deer. Black bears (though in the area) are less frequently seen, and no bison. There are numerous other N. American species that are easy to spot but just not as big - chipmunks, groundhogs, prairie dogs, marmots (in the NW), beaver, countless birds, etc.

NYC - Again, lots to see but it sounds like you've prioritized. My best advice is to allow at least one day or morning/afternoon to have no plan. Wander about and see what you find. The city is full of surprises and I find that the more carefully planned your itinerary, the more of that city-feeling you miss. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask. Same goes with Seattle (it's my hometown).

Native culture - Evidence of Native Americans can be found in almost any region of the country if you're aware of it. Beware of tourist traps that tout "Indian" this or that, or the misconception that all native tribes lived on the Plains and fall under the "teepee - arrowhead" type. For example, in New York there is the Lenape Edible Garden which has a small urban plot with native crops and information about the Lenape tribe who used to live on Manhattan island (Manhattan is in fact a Lenape word). This is not a "must-see" (though you could in 20 minutes) but just to illustrate that indigenous peoples are not confined to the south-west. The National museum of the American Indian is also located downtown Manhattan, NYC. In the Northwest (Seattle area), coastal Salish culture is still prominent with salmon bakes and totem poles popular attractions.

I'm always hesitant to give timing suggestions as only you know how long a place will capture your attention. We stopped over in a small Minnesota town for a night once and ended up staying a week because we liked it so much. Would anyone have *ever* suggested we spend a week in one teeny-tiny place? Not a chance. But that's what made it our trip and not an organized tour.

Don't stress about the plan, or getting it "right". Just enjoy the planning phase, the anticipation - it's so much fun! No matter what you choose to do, you'll have a rich and rewarding experience (unless you try to do too much, then what you'll see mostly is the TSA line at the airport or the fuel-pump at the gas-station). Some of the the suggestions above are things that we haven't even done with decades of citizenship. Figure out the "have always wanted to do" items, and the rest will fall into place. Sounds like Disneyland/LA Beaches is one. New York/Boston area is two. Select a third, and the rest will come together.


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